Our Expertise and Services: Environment and Climate Change
Climate change is threatening humanity. Poor women and men living in low-income countries are generally the worst affected. Helvetas supports such people to adapt to climate change, reduce the risk of disasters and sustainably manage forests, water and other natural resources.
Why environment and climate change matter in development
Climate change disproportionately affects poor women and men living in areas at high risk of floods, drought, hurricanes and similar disasters. It threatens important development progress achieved in low- income countries over past decades. People living in our partner countries face a rising frequency and severity of disasters.
Secured access to land, water and other natural resources is critical for the livelihoods of poor and disadvantaged people. The sustainable management of natural resources ensures the conservation of the soil and biodiversity, along with water and the air we breathe.
What we do
Through our work on climate change, disaster risk and natural resource management, Helvetas contributes to reducing the risks to people of climate-induced hazards while increasing their resilience.
We support the development and implementation of measures that allow local people and partners in our partner countries to adapt to the expected effects of climate change. We promote measures to mitigate climate change, such as avoiding or reducing emissions of greenhouse gases or increasing carbon storage in carbon sinks.
We support measures to prevent disasters, reduce the vulnerability of communities to natural and other hazards and increase their preparedness for disaster events. Helvetas also provides humanitarian response in its partner countries in collaboration with partner organizations.
We support local communities and people in securing their rights to natural resources such as forests, pastures or fisheries and to sustainably manage these resources to improve their livelihoods while conserving ecosystems and the biodiversity within them.
Helvetas brings local, lived experience – on issues such as those surrounding the governance of natural resources – to policy dialogue at national and international levels. We provide a practical context to strategic discussions.
What we offer
We provide advisory services to clients in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America, including:
- Broad-based expertise and advice on climate change, disaster risk management, humanitarian response and natural resource management within landscapes.
- Advocacy on people-centered climate and development policies, land and resources rights, biodiversity conservation and disaster risk management.
- Ability to work from the local to national, regional and international level – combining science, policy, and practice in linking field activities to policy dialogue.
- Expert facilitation of multi-stakeholder partnerships.
- Longstanding experience in mainstreaming climate change and disaster risk management in sectoral plans and policies and integrating climate change in development plans.
- Development of context-specific analytical tools and methods and delivery of tailor-made trainings.
- Assisting clients in designing programs and projects including project formulation, strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation.
Contact our team
Our multilingual advisory team offers wide-ranging thematic expertise and has in-depth experience in navigating complex processes. Helvetas’ work builds on over 60 years of experience in more than 30 countries.
Contact our environment & climate change experts
Selected projects
Helvetas develops and guides projects. To be sustainable, they must be locally embedded. We support our partners in organizing projects and processes effectively and assist local authorities in fully assuming their responsibilities.
